The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Farmers sore over being left out

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 15, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Farmers sore over being left out

Special Correspondent

‘The economy is booming, but it has not helped the fraternity’

Living on hope: Farmers from various parts of the State who had come for an interaction with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in Bangalore on Thursday.

Bangalore: “When the country’s economy was in a shambles, farmers came to its rescue and took care of its food requirements by increasing production. Now, the economy is booming. But the booming economy has snatched the food from the farmers…”

These remarks by Nanjunde Gowda, a farmer from Mandya, summed up the feelings of the fraternity that had come from different parts of the State to participate in an interaction programme with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on the problems of the agricultural sector and the steps to be taken to put an end to the trend of farmers resorting to suicide.

The Chief Minister heard the problems as well as suggestions of farmers for over seven hours: one of the longest audiences ever given to farmers. Mr. Kumaraswamy, his Cabinet colleagues and heads of various government departments sat among the audience while the farmers’ representatives took the podium.

Suggestions

The Agriculture Department had chosen about 740 farmers from different districts to attend the programme, among them Krishi award winners. Two or three farmers from each district were given the chance to speak. Suggestions were also given through phone-in’s and e-mail.

The farmers shaped the direction of this interaction without letting it be converted into a party programme or a political forum. If a speaker tried to politicise an issue, he was sharply told to stick to the agenda.

A demand made by all was that the crop insurance scheme be revamped. From covering crop losses owing to natural causes, the scheme should be extended to crop losses on account of substandard seeds and financial losses due to crash in prices of crops, they suggested. They also demanded a scientific minimum support price under the market intervention scheme whenever there is a price crash. The main reason for the farmers’ problems as well as suicides, they said, was fluctuations in the market price.

They demanded that farmers be assured of a certain price for their produce at the time of sowing itself.

The farmers also expressed concern over loans from private money lenders who charged an interest rate as high as 40 per cent. Poor farmers were forced to turn to money lenders as they could not get loans from banks easily.

They demanded that the Government implement any-time-loan facility, under which farmers could get loans based on extent of their land-holding.

Without mincing words, they told the Chief Minister that it is not enough if he just thought that his Government had taken up several farmer-friendly programmes. “The fact that farmers’ suicides are continuing despite such programmes is a clear indication that your officials have failed to implement them properly,” ran the argument. But they complimented him for holding such an interaction meeting and urged him to hold such meets at the district level to address specific issues.

Power supply

They also demanded quality power supply in rural areas. But they were divided on the power tariff. While some farmers were willing to pay more price if quality power was supplied, others wanted free power supply.

Narrating the harassment meted out by moneylenders, a farmer from Shimoga district recalled how a poor farmer in his village lost his tooth and damaged his jaw when a moneylender beat him. The farmer had to be hospitalised. “We can abuse the Chief Minister, but not these moneylenders who rule the villages,” he remarked.

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